Gainesville, FL – A Picture And Its Story: A Neo-Nazi In The Midst Of A Protest

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     Tyler Tenbrink from Texas walks with a bloody lip as demonstrators yell at him outside the location where Richard Spencer, an avowed white nationalist and spokesperson for the so-called alt-right movement, is delivering a speech on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, U.S., October 19, 2017. REUTERS/Shannon StapletonGainesville, FL – On the morning of October 17, two days before Richard Spencer, an avowed white nationalist and spokesman for the so-called alt-right, was to speak at the University of Florida, my wife asked if I had heard anything about it.

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    I had just returned from assignments on Barbuda and Puerto Rico, which were wrecked by hurricanes.

    In August, rallies by white supremacists and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia, had led to a deadly clash with counter-protesters. I contacted my editors and asked for the Florida assignment.

    The evening before the speech, I walked around the Gainesville campus. All seemed calm; there were no protests. The area was blanketed by police because Florida’s governor had declared a state of emergency to try to prevent violence.

    Early the next day there was a light presence from both sides. I met a self-proclaimed white nationalist named Tyler Tenbrink from Texas and photographed him. Later, he and two others were arrested on charges of attempted homicide in an altercation with protesters after Spencer’s speech.

    Over time, several hundred people protesting Spencer gathered in a “free speech zone” near where he was speaking.

    Once his speech began, tensions ran high and a few skirmishes broke out, but overall it was peaceful. I sat to file my photos and suddenly people started running. I grabbed my cameras and followed them.

    In the midst of an angry crowd stood a man in a shirt printed with swastikas. The atmosphere was vitriolic.

    He had been punched in the face and was smirking as blood trickled down his chin. He had walked right into the free speech zone and this really physical crowd.

    I got in there and took my photo as police were trying to escort him out of the zone. People called him pejorative names; some spit at him. It was almost surreal.

    A black man stepped beside him and guided him out of the crowd and over the barricade, alternately speaking to him and shouting at him. I moved with them and watched as the man went off, seeming to disappear.


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    6 years ago

    I know people will take my comment out of context but I will try to say my point anyhow.

    People miss the boat on this nazis hysteria in so many ways.

    Firstly, Spencer is not a neo nazis. I heard his interviews on NPR. He does not agree with Duke.

    More importantly, these dumb white hicks have no inkling about nazis , the holocaust and its atrocities. At very best there knowledge is limited. To them walking around in nazis slogans, is about being mocho and tough. Its just like wearing Halloween costumes to them. It does not have the same meaning as Nazisim 1933. Are they crazy? Yes. Are they still violent and dangerous and bigoted ? yes .

    I believe nazis actions committed by our muslim brothers are far more threatening than slogans

    I still believe we should ban nazis and bigoted free speech. I am anti free speech in extreme cases. And that includes a ban on nazis marchs. But at the same time don’t get caught up in the name or slogan

    Buchwalter
    Buchwalter
    6 years ago

    Your posting is a valid in logic and history than your praise of the president,ignorance

    BillyBeinu
    BillyBeinu
    6 years ago

    What is a “free speech” zone?

    Isn’t the whole country supposed to be a free speech zone?